Slides in this set

Slide 1

Presentation by Emily Grosswald (JFS) International Relations 1943-1991…read more

Slide 2

Background InfoTruman was strongly anti- communist ­ wanted to take a more firmapproach with Stalin and communism.Their previous wartime alliance fizzled due to :Ideological differences -(capitalism v communism)Political differences -(democracy v one party state/ freedom of speechv censorship)Post war disagreements- (America wanted Germany to recover as atrading partner, whereas the soviet union wanted to weaken Germanyby making them pay huge amounts of reparations and create a bufferzone of friendly states around Russia to prevent invasion)Collapse of war time alliance led to cold war…read more

Slide 3

Yalta Conference· Held in February 1945 (During war time, though German defeat imminent)· Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to split Germany into four zones of occupation.· Russia invited to join EU· Russia promises to join war on Japan when Germany was defeated…read more

Slide 4

Potsdam Conference· July 1945 ­ Germany had been defeated· Roosevelt had died and Churchill had lost an election, so there were open disagreements· Truman left angry about size of reparations, and the fact a communist government was being set up in Poland· Truman did not tell Stalin about the atomic bomb…read more

Slide 5

Change in relations between conferencesYalta - is was decided Germany would be split into 4 zones.Potsdam - there were disagreements about the details of the boundariesbetween the zonesYalta -is was decided Germany would pay reparations.Potsdam there were disagreements about the amount of reparations that would go toRussia.Yalta ­ it was decided a government of national unity would be set up in Poland,comprising communists and non communistsPotsdam ­ Truman was angry because Stalin had arrested the non- communist leaders ofPolandYalta ­ Free elections in the countries of Eastern Europe ­ Declaration of Liberated EuropePotsdam ­ America and Britain alarmed because communist governments were coming topower in Eastern EuropeYalta - It was agreed Russia would help fight Japan when Germany was defeatedPotsdam: Truman had the atomic bomb but did not tell Stalin. When the atomic bomb wasdropped on Japan in 1945, Stalin was furious he had not been consulted.…read more

Slide 6

Soviet Expansion· 20 million Russians died during WW2, so Stalin wanted to create abuffer zone to prevent future invasions· As the Red Army drove the Nazis back, it occupied large areas of Eastern Europe and Churchill agreed that Eastern Europe could be a Soviet "sphere of influence" In the countries that the soviets liberated, communist governments took power, set up a secret police and began to arrest opponents· In 1946, in a speech at Fulton in the USA, Churchill declared that an Iron Curtain had come down across Europe, and that Soviet expansion had to be stopped. Stalin called this speech "a declaration of war"· In 1947 Stalin set up cominterm ­ an alliance of the communist countries designed to make sure they obeyed soviet rule…read more